Written by Jesus Figueroa
@ThisFunktional
While the first Angel City FC game of the season ended in a draw, it’s a good place to be for Angel City early in the season.
Angel City started the game rocky against Orlando Pride at Inter & Co Stadium in Florida, but playing away in rainy weather against a formidable team and being the first to score and showing dominance shows promise.
Claire Emslie, Angel City number 10, scored a well taken penalty shot early in the second half at the 53rd minute.
Angel City would keep the lead until late in the game when Marta, Orlando Pride number 10, scored a volley off a corner set piece that she was left unmarked.
The back line for Angel City dominated the Orlando Pride forwards for the majority of the game, even as MA Vignola, Angel City number 16, went down early in the first half with a possible knee injury.
Merritt Mathias, Angel City number 12, got subbed on for the injured Vignola and got to play considerable minutes after coming back from injury that had her miss the 2023 season.
The midfield for Angel City had a good game and showed they could keep possession as well as get the ball back quickly when needed and go forward to try to score as the midfielders were in the box in a dangerous position many times throughout the entire game.
Angel City forwards continue to struggle to put the ball in the back of the net, even though Emslie continues to be able to break the defense and put in a good cross which is not met for chance at goal.
Alyssa Thompson, Angel City number 21, created some opportunities, but is yet to score this season. As a rookie, Thompson scored Angel City’s opening goal in the 2023 season. Thompson was able to use her speed and agility to trouble the Orlando defense and create a few promising opportunities and shows that the ability is there even if the scoring has been lacking.
Angel City forward Messiah Bright, number 24, and former Orlando Pride forward, had an impressive game showing her former team the progress she has made as a player. Bright was able to maneuver her way through the defense and win the ball in promising areas as well as make crucial passes to players in the attacking third.
Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, number 19, almost had her first clean sheet of the 2024 season after stopping many promising attacks from Orlando, but was beaten on the far post by Marta’s game tying volley.
Angel City continues their roadtrip traveling to CPKC Stadium to face the Kansas City Current on March 30 at 12:30 p.m. PT.
